I know I should REALLY wait until Dominaria is officially fully spoiled in order to get more Jaya awesomeness, but I want to keep taking steps forward so here's a pass at the four categories pointing out my favorites

Cutting down further. I'd like to focus as much on strictly Chandra stuff as possible and I really need to not get sidetracked from what this deck is trying to do no matter how cool some of these other cards are (though usefulness may get some off-theme stuff in). I'm gonna let the lands slide a little though because mono red in EDH needs to not hamper itself too much.

Spot removal needs to be culled though because Chandra just has too many burn spells.

It's actually not too terribly oversized at the moment and there are definitely some easy cuts from this point (Regathan Firecat and Isochron Scepter are the first two that spring to mind). Does anybody have any ideas for cards that might deter opponents from attacking my Planeswalkers? I suspect I'm still weak in that area. I'm not sold on what I've come up with:

I intend to bend my "Chandraness" requirement to make my deck a little more playable. That is to say: play some non-chandra themed cards to make the Chandra themed cards that I do have play better.That said, this will probably be one of my lower powered decks, which is actually kind of what I'm aiming for right now. I can swing with the big boys in my playgroup, but I want to see how low I can go without being utterly useless so that I have something to play with some of our less powerful group members.

And among cards that I had originally dismissed, if I'm looking at them from the deterrent angle I may want to reconsider them.Sphinx-Bone Wand <- may also be more threat than deterrent, but it feels wrong to leave this out of in instant/sorcery based deckVance's Blasting Cannons/Spitfire Bastion

And given how mana intensive this deck is looking I should probably consider putting Caged Sun in. I may have been trying to go with alternatives, but it's starting to feel both necessary and exceptionally powerful in a mono-color deck.

Not a huge list. Fair enough considering she's not a huge part of the story, having wandered off somewhere (presumably Regatha), combined with the fact that this set has just an absolutely titanic cast means no one person can hog the spotlight for much content.

I should also check EDHRec to see if I'm missing something or if I've changed my mind on anything that I previously dismissed:Blasphemous Act <- I'm light on wipesCaged Sun <-This is just too goodNeheb, the Eternal <-Just too good in this deckHarsh Mentor <-Efficient body...may draw too much hate thoughSoul-Scar Mage <-For dealing with Indestructible stuff

Now let's pick the best of that and mix it in with everything else I've got and see what we come out with:

OK, so the curve went up a hair, not as terribly as I suspected though so I'm happy.Also, those X spells aren't normally cast for less than 4 or 5 so I figure I'm actually doing even a little better than shown here compared to the previous iteration.

Still hope to focus on higher casting cost cards for the last 11 cuts.

So the only category I have to be wary about cutting from is cardflow as that is currently at the minimum recommended level. Everything esle is fair game, but before I actually make any changes I'd like to get some games in with this version. Of course my cuts should come from the higher end of the casting cost spectrum whenever possible to bring the curve down, but again, after playtesting.

Edit: GAHH!! I left out Chandra, the Firebrand!Whoopsie. XDI guess I'll have to figure out something to cut for her. Le-sigh.I suppose that Inferno that was on the cusp before could come out.

Got a couple reps in with the deck last night and I must say, overall I'm quite pleased with it, but I think it wants more cardflow and maybe a few more threats as permanents that also serve as deterrents.

I went hunting and found these awesome cards that I want to put in (some of them you may recognize from earlier posts):In:Oracle's Vault cardflowOutpost Siege cardflowEtali, Primal Storm threat and cardflow or deterrentSensei's Divining Top cardflow that synergizes with my other cardflow (by that I mean I can stack what goes under my Vance's Blasting Cannons, what goes under my Oracle's Vault, and what gets drawn in to my hand this turn. I can even put the top on top so that it goes under the blasting cannons as a cheap spell I can cast most any turn and possibly even help me flip the Cannons into the Spitfire Bastion)Scroll Rack cardflow that synergizes with my other cardflowScrying Sheets cardflow for snow (i.e. my mana base)

Of course to add stuff we must also undergo the painful process of cuts:Out:Mizzium Mortars I have plenty of spot and wipes and this has no Chandra flavor keeping my attention, is also only sorcery speed which my Chandras cover plenty.Dictate of the Twin Gods enabler, but doesn't do anything on its own and makes my walkers very fragile to opposing damageAngrath's Marauders too expensive, they see it coming from a mile awayFire Servant Painful, but I'm looking for room and this is another do nothing enabler that doesn't even block very well because it only has 3 toughness.Rekindling Phoenix It's stupid resilient, but that's about it and it's defensive viability is severely diminished in multiplayer where it can only chump once each turn cycle. I can do better for my roleHall of the Bandit Lord just wholly unnecessary. I don't have enough creatures that care.

I actually found five more cards that I like for the deck, but I need more reps to see what I can cut for them (or if I really need them at all):Goblin Charbelcher deterrent and potential repeated removal, works extra good with Top and RackRimescale Dragon deterrent, both proactively and reactively, can be pulled off of scrying sheetsSmoke absurd deterrentSkred Not Chandra flavored, but instant speed, lots of damage, and VERY efficient.Journeyer's Kite I know it's redundant with the front half of Thaumatic Compass, however that transform is mandatory and keeping the land search going has two VERY real benefits outside of just being really good at making sure you hit your land drops each turn: 1)It fetches mountains for Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, and 2)It continuously feeds Glacial Crevasses.

As expected, Glacial Crevasses was an absolute rockstar. Almost makes me want to put Sunstone in there too. But only almost. They did make me sac multiple lands that game as we played "keep the Chandra from Ulting," and I don't really know that I want more effects that hamper my mana base.

Looking back on my mana base I just don't need any of the haste lands at all I think. Nominally they were for granting Chandra haste, but it's just so much mana to do all of casting Chandra, giving her haste, and casting another red spell to untap her so I can activate her ability and transform her the very turn she comes down. I'd much rather just drop her on curve, wait a turn cycle and then flip her. Much more mana efficient and much more time efficient too. As for my other creatures, they're primarily defense and honestly would usually rather be sitting back to defend a Chandra than crashing into the red zone. Additionally I want to go down Forgotten Cave as well. It is only marginally a cardflow card and it just stayed in to keep my cardflow count up, but even then it's not that great at that job, just flexible. Now that I'm adding 6 more very real cardflow engines I feel like this can become just another snow-covered mountain to make my mana base that much more consistent. Or at least that's what I was originally thinking. Cutting off these nonbasics made me want to do another pass of all the nonbasic lands this deck could use to see if I missed any gems, and in my searching I stumbled upon 3 that I quite like:Thawing Glaciers <-Keep fueling valakut, at instant speed even, or double up triggers with a regular land drop!Kher Keep <-chump blockers to throw in front of opposing creatures trying to whack-a-ChandraThespian's Stage <-Worst case scenario it's a wastes or snow-covered mountain, best case scenario it's another Valakut (remember friends, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle isn't legendary). And that's ignoring the possibility of my opponents' playing another busted land that I might want to copy. The floor on this is quite fine and the ceiling is absurd.

As always, any input is always appreciated. I don't think I'll be able to test this deck again this upcoming weekend because I plan to be at GPDC pestering Zack Stella for a Gishath playmat. =p I mean, I suppose it's possible I get some commander games in at the GP, but it's not high on my priority list of things to do there.

Last edited by Flyheight on Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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